Restaurateur Danny Meyer Nominated to Sotheby’s Board

From Sotheby’s comes more proof that the city’s culinary and cultural lives are becoming one: Restaurateur Danny Meyer, the man who invented Shake Shack, may become one of the venerable auction house’s newest board members. (Perhaps last summer’s auction of heirloom vegetables can be seen in hindsight as an amuse-bouche?)

Sotheby’s shareholders vote May 5 on whether to elect Meyer to its board of directors, a position that carries with it responsibilities including the selection and evaluation of the Chief Executive and oversight of the company’s financial reports. Directors generally earn between around $30,000 to $60,000 per year in cash payments, excluding stock awards.

Meyer, 53 years old, is president of Union Square Hospitality Group, which owns and operates restaurants including Union Square Cafe, Eleven Madison Park and Gramercy Tavern. He is one of two individuals nominated to the board, according to the company’s most recent proxy statement.

The restaurateur was “identified as a possible candidate” by Sotheby’s President and Chief Executive William Ruprecht, according to the filing. He was nominated in March, after the board decided to expand in size.

Meyer’s qualifications for service on the board, according to the filing, include his “strong connections and name recognition in the critical New York market” and his experience as “a leading expert in hospitality, client service and the development of a service culture.” He is also no stranger to the New York fine-arts world, with restaurants at the Museum of Modern Art and a newly opened eatery at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Should Meyer achieve a seat on Sotheby’s board, he’ll join a group that includes Diana Taylor, a managing director of Wolfensohn & Co. (and Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s girlfriend), and James Murdoch, deputy chief operating officer of News Corp., which owns The Wall Street Journal.